Paradox
by rockmysocks456
Summary: Arthur's specialty has always been endless staircases. What happens when he's lost it? Definite Arthur whump. READ AND REVIEW!
1. Chapter 1

_* I really hope you like this! Unfortunately I do NOT own Inception. Wish I did. But I don't. READ AND REVIEW!_

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Paradox. Any person, thing, or situation exhibiting an apparently contradictory nature. What does that mean? Well, basically that something that appears impossible. A good example of paradox is the never-ending staircase. Picture this. You're walking up a flight of stairs when you come to a tiny landing, you turn onto another flight of stairs. Another small landing. You turn. Another flight. You continue this until you realize that you haven't moved much at all. Now you continue walking looking for an exit when- you find yourself in a freefall, the staircase has ended and you have just stepped off of it.

Arthur jerked awake and breathing heavily, yanked the cord of his wrist and sat up, trying to regain control of his breathing. He had just stepped off of the staircase. He didn't understand that was always his specialty in the dreamworld, he _always_ knew where the stairs would end, even when it wasn't his dream.

"As it turns out, even the _brilliant_ Arthur can be tricked by-"

"Paradox." Arthur breathed.

"...Mhmm. Well, what happened then, Arhur? Why'd it trick you?" Eames continued smiling, removing his own cord.

Arthur took in his breaths slowly. _In... and out. Calm down, Arthur._ He told himself.

"I-I don't know. I was running up the staircase... and then- I didn't- I didn't _feel_ the end coming. It just didn't happen." Arthur answered nervously.

Why was he freaking out? He never lost his cool. Ever. He was always calm and collected. He did his best to appear that way. It wasn't working.

"Well, calm down, mate it happens sometimes." Eames said, sounding if possible, somewhat concerned.

"No... No, you don't understand. When the subject for the extraction enters your dream, do they ever realize they're in your dream and not who you told them it was's dream?"

Eames thought this over and then after a long pause he answered, "No."

Arthur finally regained control, he had stopped shaking and most of the color had returned to his face. He took a breath and said calmly,

"Sorry for freaking out... I'm gonna go ask Cobb what he thinks."

Eames nodded and said suspiciously, "Alright, Arthur..."

As Arthur made his was through the warehouse to where Cobb usually spent his 'alone time', he began thinking over what Cobb might say if he told him what had happened. His inner eye zoomed into an imaginary, but most likely the most probable scenario.

_Arthur approached Cobb and said calmly, "Cobb? I need to talk to you."_

_Cobb turned to face him and said, "Okay, Arthur. What's up?"_

_Arthur took a breath and said, "When Eames and I were running a test, I stepped off the endless staircase. I don't know what happened. I didn't feel it coming."_

_Cobb looked at him awestruck and after what felt like forever he said slowly, "I'm-I'm sorry, Arthur. But if you can no longer perform your specialty like the rest of us... we might have to replace you."_

Arthur stopped walking abruptly and thought this over. He couldn't be replaced. He could never leave this team. He would forever crave the intensity of the Inception operations. He couldn't tell Cobb. What would happen?

"Hey Arthur c- Are you okay?"

Arthur turned and found it was the new architect speaking. Ariadne had been offered a more desirable, but similar job and had left the team. The new architect was really good. Possibly better than Cobb. His name was Lance Wilson.

"Er- Everything's fine, Lance. I just- Everything's fine." Arthur said quickly.

Lance eyed him curiously, shrugged and left.

_Asshole._

Arthur was not exactly friendly with Lance yet. The first time Lance had been tested with the entire team, they had decided to use Arthur as the subject. This dreamworld he was put into was torture. He was walking on a staircase when he realized it looked exactly the same as the one from another dream. And so, smiling he knew where it would end. Only he didn't. Lance had intentionally led Arthur to believe that so when it ended earlier than he expected he'd fall and Lance would show the team his excellent architectural skills.

It had not of course, hurt when he awoke because it had been in a dream. But it was the principal of the thing. Endless staircases were his specialty, and Lance knew that and had (Well, at least Arthur _thought._) intentionally embarassed him.

He decided to go upstairs and try and get ahold of himself. Irritably he noticed an 'Out-of-Order' sign posted on the elevator. He took the stairs, he walked for what felt like forever... _Endless staircase!_ He started walking again, panic building in his chest. He reached a landing unexpectedly and his foot swiped the air searching for something to step on. _The staircase is ending!_ Arthur's breathing heavied and he reached for the railing for support but he couldn't see it. Everything had gone black.


	2. Chapter 2

_* Glad you liked the last chapter, hope you like this one! And as always, READ AND REVIEW!__

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Darkness had engulfed Arthur. But he did not dream. He could no longer experience normal dreams. His always had to be self-induced. Never again would he dream naturally...

"Arthur? Arthur? Wake up..."

_He remembered the horror he'd felt when his foot had hit anything. But he was definitely lying on something stable now. He just didn't know what. Or where for that matter. _

"Arthur! Wake up!"

_He felt himself beginning to wake up. He emerged from the blackness slowly, and a little painfully. His head hurt._

"ARTHUR."

His eyes opened and he looked up at Cobb, Eames, and Lance. He was slightly embarassed for them to have found him unconscious. But that was the least of his problems now. His head hurt like a bitch. Probably from hitting the ground so hard.

He realized he was lying on one of the lawnchairs they used for the Inception operations, and wished he'd been provided with a more comfortable place to lay. But, he had to appreciate the fact that they hadn't left him on the staircase which would've been far less comfortable.

"Arthur, what happened?" Cobb asked immediately.

Arthur looked around, collecting knowledge of his surroundings. He remembered.

"I-I sort of- I passed out."

Eames rolled his eyes and said with his oh-so-British accent,

"Well, yeah. We figured that out for ourselves oddly enough..."

Arthur glared at him and sat up.

"Well, I don't know I just-" He thought desperately trying to find a sufficient lie. The only one he could think of was not something he would like to tell them but it was better than the truth that could possibly be more embarassing, "I uh- hit my head on the railing."

The three men burst into simultaneous laughter and Arthur rolled his eyes standing up, holding the edge of the chair to steady himself.

_Whatever. That was just a lie, that they could laugh about as much as they wanted. The truth was far more frightening. He needed to get a clear grip on reality or he'd have a bigger problem than not knowing when the end came to the Staircase._

"Well, now that you're awake. We've been hired to perform an extraction on a Mr. Oswald Destrey. He's planning on just closing his company, causing hundreds to lose their jobs, and his brother Frank to get no part in the company."

Arthur cocked an eyebrow, "Why not just buy it from him?"

Cobb smiled and shook his index finger at him knowingly, "Because he's dying. He wants to just close the company so that no one can take it from him when he dies."

"But how are we supposed to perform an extraction on a dying guy?"

"Well, he's not on his death bed quite yet. The doctor told him he had a month to live. So during that month we've got to do this."

Arthur nodded, "I'm assuming Frank Oswald is the one who hired us?"

"Yes. So if you could just run along and do your little Point Man buisness we can get started!" Eames said teasingly.

Arthur threw him another glare and went off to, 'do his little Point Man buisness.' and figure out everything they needed to know about this Mr. Destrey guy.

He worked late into the night, and yawning he set down his pen on top of his page of notes and stretched. He checked the time on his computer and saw it was 1:37 AM. He rested his head on his palm, propped up by his elbow, and his eyelids drew together...

_He was walking along a sidewalk. He looked to his left and saw the street curved up towards the sky. He didn't question it. Everything was fine here. He entered a small coffee shop within an office building and looked around. _

_Across from the entrance was a staircase. On which, was Lance Wilson. He was gesturing for Arthur to join him. It was then that Arthur realized he was in a dream. But that couldn't be..._

_"Lance!" He called, running up to him, "Why am I dreaming naturally? I can't do that anymore..."_

_"I'm not Lance, I'm just a part of your subconscious. You know that."_

_Arthur nodded in agreement and said cooly, "Well, self conscious. Why am I dreaming? I can't do that anymore..."_

_"Lance messed with your subconscious mind when he put in that staircase that'd you seen in a previous dream and changed it only slightly. You thought it was REAL the second time, and it damaged part of you subconscious. The mind is a delicate thing, Arthur. Not something to be toyed with like that."_

_Arthur nodded, and his eyebrow furrowed as he watched 'Lance' turn around and walk up the steps._

_"Wait!" Arthur called but he had disappeard around the corner._

_Arthur ran, up, up, up, he went in a never ending spiral. _

_"LANCE! LANCE!" He called._

_He stepped foward and was freefalling... the staircase had ended._

Arthur's head snapped up and he looked around, terrified. Sweat had collected at his brow and his breathing was heavy again. What was happening to him?

He stood up and felt his body shake with constant tremors. He entered the bathroom and walked over to the sink. He gasped as he noticed how pale he was. He splashed some water in his face and gripped the sides of the counter for support.

"_Get ahold of yourself, Arthur. You never lose your cool!"_ He muttered to himself.

"Can't lose what you never had, dear."

Arthur jumped and turned around to see Eames standing in the doorway.

"You alright, Arthur?" He asked curiously.

"Yeah I'm-I'm fine."


	3. Chapter 3

_* And here's yet another chapter of Paradox. READ AND REVIEW!_

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In a little less than a week they had it all planned out. They were in Mr. Destrey's house, he was asleep and Yusuf had just slid a syringe into his arm filled with a sedative that would ensure he sleep as long as they needed.

According to Arthur's research, Destrey's subconscious was trained to repel extractors. This slightly complicated the situation, but they were prepared for this type of thing. After all, this was their job, they faced such conflicts often. (More often then Arthur would've liked as a matter of fact...)

"Alright. Now we have ten hours, twenty in the dream to do this." Cobb explained for the umpteenth time, "And we have no room for mistakes. We've got three levels planned out. Okay? Yusuf will stay in level one again-"

"As always." Yusuf said with a smile.

"Eames will stay in level two." Cobb continued and then adressing Lance and Arthur, "And you two and myself will go on to level three. As we've already discussed, I'll convince Destrey to come with us into level two, and from there we'll get to three, which'll be the bank level, and from there, we'll perform the extraction. Then, Yusuf'll play the music, Eames'll give us the kick, and before we know it we'll be back here with a mission accomplished."

The team all murmured in agreement and took their places relaxing around the room and hooking themselves up to the machine. Yusuf flicked up the clasps of his little plastic box and withdrew his hand to reveal a large bottle of another sedative.

"Take a bit all of you, to make sure you don't wake up too soon."

They nodded taking a sip and passing it to the next person.

Eames was the first. He took a sip and passed out on the floor the next second.

"How strong is this?" Arthur asked curiously.

"Not too strong, it'll get you to sleep quick enough but you can wake up from it if you need to." Yusuf said shrugging.

Arthur returned the shrug and sipped. His eyes rolled and his head hit the floor.

When he opened his eyes again he was in small but busy little town. Arthur scanned the streets for Destrey and upon spying him he called,

"Found him, Cobb. He's going into that building."

"Oh thanks, Arthur. _That building_ is really desciptive and we know exactly the one you're talking about!" Eames replied sarcastically.

"Well the- the red one! You see it- Oh shut up, Eames."

But just as they all went to cross the road, a staircase rose from the ground, slowly and steadily building itself into a spiral up to the top floor of the building Destrey had just disappeared into.

"Cobb? What the hell is this?" Yusuf asked, indicating the staircase that had risen from the concrete.

"Wasn't me." Cobb said defensively.

"Nor I." Eames added.

"Not me." Lance said.

They all turned and looked at Arthur who gave them a look that said he had no idea what had happened.

"What the hell, Arthur? The subconscious is gonna get suspicious if you keep building!" Eames cried.

"I didn't mean to, it just happened! I don't know..." Arthur snapped, keeping his voice level.

Eames eyed him knowingly, he was the only person who had seen what had happened with the staircase while they were running that test a few days ago. And Arthur had a feeling he might not keep the secret.

"Well... whatever, let's just go."

Cobb, Eames, Lance, and Yusuf all filed slowly into the building. But a small voice in Arthur's head told him to do otherwise.

_Take the staircase, Arthur._

Arthur shook his head and groped in his pocket for his totem. He extracted a small red die, and rolled it in his hand.

It was weightless and blank. No numbers. He breathed again. He was in a dream, everything was okay.

He walked slowly and cautiously towards the stairs, and walked up them. Never-ending, of course. He continued nervously, hoping that his sense of the end would return to him. It didn't. He stepped foward and fell foward, the air rushing past his face he grabbed wildly at anything, finally catching himself painfully on the rail.

He looked down and saw he was only four feet or so from the ground and let go. His feet hit the ground hard and he bit back a cry of pain and went into the building after Cobb and the others.

Arthur looked around the room carefully, looking for any sign of the team. And there he saw a beautiful yet oddly familar woman walking towards him.

"Hey sweetie, wanna go upstairs?" She whispered with a wink.

"Er- No thank you, mam." Arthur studdered.

"Oh, that's disappointing, darling."

Arthur glared as he saw the woman turn back into Eames and he thumped him in the back of his head and walked away muttering,

"Not funny..."

"C'mon, Cobb and Lance are already in level two, we've gotta go."

Arthur followed Eames down to a boiler room in which Yusuf had set a time bomb, that would go off when they needed the last kick.

"Go, go, Cobb and Lance are waiting for you!" Yusuf said pulling out two more cords from the machine.

Arthur and Eames both hooked themselves up and closed their eyes...


	4. Chapter 4

_* Alright, here's the next chapter. Do me a favor and add this to either your alerts or your favs, only if it honestly is but I just gotta know if I have any fans! Haha, anyways aside from my pitiful attempts to get hits... READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

They opened their eyes again and found themselves in level two. Arthur looked around and made one assessment. There were _alot _of people, which meant that if Destrey's subconscious noticed anything different, they'd have a big problem.

He stood up and realized they were in the city level. It was a huge city, but there was no doubt in Arthur's mind that they'd have a problem getting Destrey's pin number from him. As long as they abided by the plan and stayed out of his subconscious's way, they'd be alright.

"There you are, we were wondering what happened." Cobb said spotting them and waving them to come closer.

"Sorry, Dom. But this little bugger got lost." Eames said, pointing to Arthur who glared.

"And _this _one was impersonating a hooker." Arthur said, pointing to Eames who smirked.

"Whatever, let's just go." Cobb said, shaking his head smiling at the silliness of his colleagues.

Arthur followed them down the road and they saw Destrey disappear into an outdoor elevator to an apartment building and they went to follow him. They had intended to get him on the first level but much to their displeasure Destrey had fallen asleep before they'd gotten to him.

So here they were in level two. And that small voice was back in Arthur's head...

_You walk along the staircase. You know where it will end. You can feel it when others can't. Or you usually can. What's happened to you, Arthur? You've lost your touch. You no longer no the end. You will fall... Paradox._

"ARTHUR!" Cobb roared as a staircase built itself into the side of the apartment.

Arthur blew up at him, "I'M NOT DOING THIS, DOM!"

Cobb pointed to a few civilians who went for Arthur, fury shining in their eyes...

"THEN WHY ARE _THEY _AFTER YOU?"

Arthur struggled as the dragged him down the street, "I DON'T KNOW! HELP ME, COBB!"

Cobb, Lance, and Eames all whipped out their guns and fired at each pedestrian that had gotten ahold of Arthur who elbowed one in the nose and broke free, brushing off his coat.

"There's gonna be more of them the farther we go if you keep doing that, Arthur! What the hell is wrong?" Cobb snapped.

Arthur thought it out trying to figure out the same exact thing.

"Maybe all this work with Inception at the young age like he is starting to affect his erm- _sanity._" Lance suggested coldly.

"Shut up, alright Lance? C'mere, Arthur." Cobb said in a superior manner.

He put an arm around Arthur's shoulders and steered him away from Lance and Eames, towards another sidewalk. Once there he hissed,

"What's wrong with you Arthur?"

Arthur was irritated by the fact that they all thought it was _him. _Although, maybe it was and he didn't even know it.

"I don't know, Cobb I-"

Just then pain shot through Arthur's head and his knees buckled. Cobb quickly grabbed him under the arms to prevent him from hitting the ground.

"Arthur!"

* * *

_Arthur was standing in the middle of the blackness when a bright white staircase flickered into view. He looked around, and seeing no where else to go, he climbed it. He reached a landing that led to another flight of stairs. He climbed that too and on the next landing, was Lance._

_"Lance! What the hell did you do to me?" _

_Lance laughed in such a cruel, condescending way, Arthur wondered how he could ever have trusted him. _

_"Ah, Arthur, Arthur, Arthur... Don't you see? I did it on purpose. On that first test, I planned it to sabotage you're job as Point Man. I messed with your head, I screwed up your mind. When you saw the staircase from a dream you'd had before, you didn't know what to do. On the one hand it was a dream and so it hadn't been built from memory, on the other you had seen it before."_

_Arthur thought this over and snapped, "How did that mess up my mind?"_

_"Ah, I'm getting to that. Have you heard of a recurring dream, Arthur?"_

_Arthur nodded and Lance continued, "Well, in the Inception operations, all aspects of a dream mean something important. A recurring dream can screw with your senses, hence you lost your sense of the end of the staircase and another small part of you mind caused you to dream again, basically losing all the extraction experience you've ever gotten."_

_Arthur groaned. He then asked, "Why though, Lance? Why would you do that?"_

_"Which member of the team hardly ever gets replaced, Arthur? Who? The Point Man. I stole Cobb's blueprints from when he used to be the architect, and learned from that so I could get a spot on the team. And once on the team, I needed to get myself into the Point Man's position. And how better to get you fired than to have you lose your mind?"_

"ARTHUR!"

_"You're a sick bastard!" Arthur choked, "And what are you gonna do once you're close to Cobb?"_

_"Extract all his secrets on Inception, and begin my own buisness with it."_

_Arthur shook his head, smirking, "Cobb will know if you try that, and he'll have you arrested for mind-theft."_

_"Ah, that's the best part. Right after the extraction? I kill him." _


	5. Chapter 5

_* So! Another chapter! Please for the love of all that is fanfiction... READ AND REVIEW!_

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"EAMES! LANCE! Get over here! Something's happened to- What happened to Lance?" Cobb yelled.

"Don't know! The bloke was standing up one minute, and on the ground the next! What about Arthur?" Eames asked, approaching, dragging Lance behind him.

"Don't know that either, he was fine one minute then the next he's attempting a faceplant towards the pavement!"

Eames and Cobb stood facing each other, puzzled and muttering curses under their breath. Even the sarcastic forger could think of no joke to soften the mood.

"Do you think maybe Lance was right?" Cobb whispered to Eames in case either Arthur or Lance woke.

"What? You mean about them being too young to handle this kind of strain on their minds? No. Arthur's never had a problem before."

Cobb shook his head, doubt clear on his face, "I'm not sure. I mean, Arthur's always been good but maybe he could only keep it up for a little while. Maybe he can't anymore..."

"C'mon Dom! Arthur's always been a great member of the team..." Normally he wouldn't defend the young Point Man like this but he had a feeling _Lance_ was the one to blame, "When was it that Arthur _first_ started acting wierd?"

Cobb thought this over carefully, and as realization spread across his face he said, "Since we ran a test with Lance... on Arthur!"

"Bingo, darling."

Both Eames and Cobb's mind zoomed into a flashback. From the end of the test with Lance.

_Arthur was running up the Endless Staircase, a smirk built across his face. He thought he knew where it'd end. Little did he know that Lance had tricked him. He was running, running, running, falling..._

_"Arthur!" Cobb had screamed as the Point Man went into an uncontrollable freefall._

_"I see your Point Man isn't as good as he first appeared." Lance had sneered._

_"Alright gents. We're done here, c'mon." Eames had said and gestured for them to join him in jumping with Arthur._

_They had all woken up and Arthur was sitting up, eyes wide and staring off into space, sweat rolling down his forehead, and extremely pale._

_"Arthur? Are you okay?" Cobb had asked._

_Arthur's breathing was heavy but he said in his normal calm voice, though they all heard the slightest bit of panic in it, "I'm fine..."_

"Lance! You think... You think...?"

"Think he did this to Arthur on purpose? Yes." Eames finished for him.

* * *

_"Kill him? No, you can't- You can't do that... Someone will know it was you!" Arthur cried._

_"No, not true. You see, I'm going to jump off this staircase, wake up, then shoot myself and get back to level one, then I'm going to shoot myself again, and wake up. Then, while you're all asleep, I'll kill the rest of you. You, Yusuf, Eames... And then, I'll perform the extraction on Cobb."_

_Arthur stared at him, mouth open slightly in shock, and then- He ran past him, shoving him down the stairs. He sprinted foward, wondering what use he'd be to the team now that his mind was so screwed up. He sighed and continued running._

_"HEY!" Lance yelled, coming up behind him._

_Arthur whipped out his gun and shot at Lance, hitting him in the shoulder._

_"Ow! Shit!" _

_**The end of the staircase is in twenty-three more steps.**_

_Arthur was surprised. He was getting his sense back. He thought of what he'd just done to make that happen. He'd shot Lance. Why would that make him regain his sense? He remembered something Cobb had told him on numerous occasions,_

_"The mind is a complex thing, Arthur."_

_So it was._

_He continued running... He shot backwards in hopes of hitting Lance again._

_**Eleven more steps.**_

_He looked back and saw Lance crumple, but he was still alive. _

_He shot at him and missed._

_**...More steps...**_

_He frowned in frustation. He aimed carefully at Lance, who had now whipped out his own gun._

_EEEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE!_

_A ringing was echoing in Arthur's ears as his vision flickered white and pain exploded in his side. He staggered and fell, clutching the bloody wound._

"What the hell is happening to them?" Cobb cried terrified as he pointed out bloody bullet wounds that were appearing all over Lance and in Arthur's side, "It looks like they've been shot!"

_Arthur aimed his gun carefully and another bullet blasted into him, shattering his shoulder. He gasped in pain and fired his gun wildly in Lance's direction. To his surprise it hit Lance directly in the gut and he moaned and slid down the stairs._

_**Seven more steps.**_

_Arthur clutched the rail for support and climbed the stairs. _

_**Four more steps.**_

_He was slowing as the blood loss got to him... He saw the end._

_**Jump.**_

_He stumbled off of the staircase and fell... down... down... down..._


	6. Chapter 6

_* Okay! Here we are with... *Drum roll* Another chapter! Woo! READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Arthur's eyes flew open and both Eames and Cobb were bent over him, Lance was lying near him conscious but not moving.

"Arthur! What the bloody hell's happened to you?" Eames cried with slight concern.

Arthur winced in pain as he felt the bloody wounds in his shoulder and side.

"Lance... He was... Trying to get me fired by screwing... By screwing up my... my head. So he could get to be Point Man and... Kill... Dom."

Dom looked taken aback and rage flashing in his eyes, he pointed his gun at Lance.

"DOM NO!" Arthur screamed. Well tried to scream he wasn't particularly good at it at the time being.

"If you kill him... He'll wake up... And kill... _all of us._"

Cobb nodded in understanding and said, "Alright we're gonna have to make our own Kick, since Yusuf wasn't planning on one for another few hours or so..."

"Wait, what about the Destrey operation?" Arthur said, his voice level but pain etched clearly across his face.

"Forget that!" Cobb cried hysterically, "We need to get back before Lance does or we're all dead!"

"Sorry 'bout this, Arthur." Eames said smiling, he raised his gun and pulled the trigger.

Arthur sat bolt upright in the boiler room of the first level.

Shortly afterwards, Eames and Cobb joined him. Along with Lance.

"What's going on? You weren't supposed to wake up for another couple hours!" Yusuf exclaimed looking alarmed.

"Quick, shoot me and Lance again Dom!" Arthur yelled and Cobb obliged.

* * *

Arthur awoke, in Destrey's room and unhooked himself hastily from the machine. Lance was waking up too and Arthur thought it best he have his gun ready. He pulled it out steadily and pointed it slowly at Lance, standing up.

Lance mimicked him and said stepping back, "You told them. Now you've all got to die. It's been nice knowing you Arthur-"

Lance was cut off as Arthur got him with a swift punch to the face. Lance staggered, wiping the blood from his nose and smiled looking up at Arthur.

"I see. Have it your way then."

He aimed a punch at Arthur, but he ducked before it could hit him. He made to slap Lance across the face with his gun but Lance saw him coming and with great force he shoved him uncerimoniously into a side table, knocking the lamp off, it went crashing to the ground.

Arthur clawed his way up the wall to stand and snapped his finger onto the trigger of his gun quickly and was about to pull it when an explosion of hurt slammed into his right bicep.

He groaned and grasped his wound, raising his now shaking gun at Lance. He noticed Eames and Cobb waking up and he felt it best to finish Lance now.

He pulled the trigger but it missed Lance by inches. _Dammnit!_

Lance shot wildly in Arthur's direction and the bullet just clipped the side of his cheek leaving a trail of blood in his burning flesh.

He shot again and this time it went into Lance's chest. Who fell to the floor holding it.

"DAMMNIT, ARTHUR!" Lance screamed and shot one final bullet into Arthur's side.

Arthur gasped in pain and his knees buckled...

"TASTE THIS YOU ROTTEN, ARCHITECTURAL SON OF A BITCH!" Eames roared and sent a clean shot into Lance's head.

Arthur smiled and said weakly, "Nice shot."

"Thanks."

Arthur smiled again and fainted.


	7. Chapter 7

_* Yet ANOTHER chapter to Paradox, and as always guys, READ AND REVIEW!

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___

"Shit! We gotta make him stop bleeding!"

Arthur had only the slightest sense of consciousness, all he knew was that someone was talking, and he was being dragged... somewhere by his shoulders.

_"Arthur? Arthur, can you hear me?"_

Arthur wanted to respond so that the worry in Cobb's voice would fade but he found himself hopelessly incapable of speech at the time being. He was bleeding, his head was throbbing, and he had absolutely no idea what was happening. This was not at all to Arthur's liking, he liked knowing what was going on _all_ the time, and he never revealed any injury to the rest of the team, he would tend to such things upon returning home to his empty apartment. Having them have to tend to it for him made him feel incredibly vulnerable.

Fortunately, (Actually it was rather unfortunate, but Arthur didn't know that.) he soon fell into a complete unconsciousness, blocking out all voices and feeling.

* * *

He opened his eyes and found himself in a dream. He stared around in confusion, he knew this was a dream, he was trained to know that, but his question was _why_ was he in a dream? As he had thought earlier in the week when he'd dreamed, he couldn't dream naturally anymore, could he?

But here he was. In the dreamworld. He glanced around, taking in his surroundings. From what he could gather, he was in a parking garage, on the basement level. He walked towards the elevator as the doors opened and immediately wished he hadn't. Once the doors opened completely, they revealed two armed gentlemen. One said in a cold monotone,

"You're going to die, Arthur."

Arthur stood still only a moment thinking this sudden shock over before turning around and sprinting towards the exit.

He grasped the door knob and twisted, pushed... It didn't open. He shook the knob violently hoping some how that would help, but it didn't. He peered frantically over his shoulder and saw them gaining on him, he abandoned this door and ran for the only other one. He yanked at the handle. Nothing. Again he shook it violently. Nothing. Sighing, he realized the only other option was the stairs as they were closer to the elevator.

He was running up the stairs as fast as he possibly could and he soon realized that the two men were catching up. He was breathing heavily, and his chest was tightening but he had to press on, otherwise he'd be killed. And though deep in his mind he knew he wouldn't really die, he figured it better not too since in reality he might actually be dying...

"ARTHUR!" The other man roared, he was nineteen steps behind him, Arthur was beginning to panic.

He pressed on, maintaining his signature straight face. _Run, Arthur, run!_

He would keep on running if it was the last thing he did. Which most likely it was.

"Eames, we've got to stop the bleeding! Press down as hard as you can on his wounds, while I go find some goddammn first aid supplies!" Cobb instructed and Eames looked down with much distaste at the blood.

"You-? You can't be serious? You're...? Afraid of blood?"

Eames sucked in a deep breath wanting so bad to prove wrong Cobb though what he'd just said was indeed the truth. He plunged his hand down in the bloodiness of the hole and held his breath.

_Hang in there, old boy, Cobb won't be too long. God he hoped he wasn't long._

Arthur knew that the men were catching up fast and he needed to think of a better plan than running because that wouldn't last forever. He dove his hand into his pocket and found it... empty. He checked the other. All of them. Nothing.

"_Dammnit!"_ He cursed under his breath.

_**Twenty-nine more steps.**_

Arthur smiled, his sense had come back.

_**Fifteen more steps.**_

"GET BACK HERE, ARTHUR!" One man roared.

_**Nine more steps.**_

"GO TO HELL!" Arthur roared back in response.

_**The end is here.**_

The men sped up and Arthur stopped abruptly at the end of the staircase and they went falling, flailing madly trying to grab hold of something. There was nothing.

"Paradox."


	8. Chapter 8

_* So sorry! But here it is. The LAST chapter of Paradox. I'd imagine you sensed the end coming, so here it is. A little short, I know, sorry about that but... as always... READ AND REVIEW!_

* * *

Arthur was emerging from the dream, and returning slowly into reality. His eyes opened slowly and he groaned lightly, as the minor brightness from the ceiling light back in the warehouse hit his irritable and slightly feverish eyes. He looked around, his brow furrowed with pain and his spotted Eames.

He was about to greet him when he noticed Eames looked paler, and frankly more vulnerable than Arthur had ever seen him. He was shaking slightly and avoiding eye contact with Arthur, though he apparently had not yet noticed that he'd regained consciousness.

"Eames?" Arthur croaked weakly.

Eames gasped and looked as though he were about to faint, which by the looks of it, he probably had already that day.

"Oh! A-Arthur. How are you feeling?" Eames asked nervously.

"Like anyone else who's been shot I suppose. What's up with you?"

Eames swallowed and catching sight of the red blotch in the gauze on Arthur's arm, he turned if possible whiter and looked away. Just then Cobb walked in and smiling, clapped a hand on Eames' shoulder shaking it lightly he said smirking,

"Apparently, Eames here is afraid of-"

"Shut it! I'm not afraid of nothing I'm-I'm-"

Cobb pointed out the blood and Eames shuddered and turned away again.

"Yeah, he's afraid of blood. He held up pretty well until we were done patching you up when he-"

"Don't!"

"Passed out." Cobb finished, ignoring Eames protests.

Arthur laughed, his head hurt as did his arm and his side but he had to laugh. Eames afraid of _anything?_ Funny.

"So, Arthur about your little problem with the staircases..."

Arthur smiled, sitting up, wincing, and leaning back slightly before saying, "Problem solved! I got my sense back!"

Cobb leaned back looking impressed and then said, "Oh, well good. I was gonna say maybe I should raise your pay and maybe your mind would be more willing to cooperate, but if you say it's already working..."

"No! Cobb...!"

"I'm joking, Arthur. I don't give pay raises."

Arthur glared and Eames laughed softly, some color returning to his paper white face.

Arthur then sat up suddenly and said in a level, but still alarmed voice,

"What about the Destrey operation?"

Cobb shrugged, "Eh, we gave up on that. We figured, what with our architect actually being a sadistic killer, and our Point Man bleeding out, it was a good time to quit."

Arthur smiled and laid back closing his eyes.

He sank quickly into a deep sleep, and was glad, that it was once more,

Dreamless.


End file.
